projects, decor, & a new baby

Category: Vintage + Thrift

I hope your days are filled with cheer and joy. Spend as much time as you can with family, and show your loved ones how much you care. This part of the year never neglects me – I always feel the urge to share little happinesses with those around me.

Happy Christmas,

xx.

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I read an article recently about stress. Obviously we all have stressors in our life, and they’re all relative, but in this article it said that the retired community is the least stressed of all Americans, and women in their 20s are the most. Huh. I have to say that I kind of felt a little better reading that because there’s a lot of figuring-out to do at my age, and at least I’m not the only one dealing with it. That certainly isn’t exclusive to women, we must just handle our stress differently than men, but it none-the-less made me feel a little less alone. Interesting, no?

I was absolutely captivated the other day at work when I accidentally glanced out a window and my eye caught on a flaming maple. Maples are the most beautiful trees in the fall. On the drive to work with Ryan yesterday our car climbed and dipped along the loopy back-woods road consistently being showered with fluttering yellow leaves. It was surreal. We have taken a liking to that scary road I described a few months ago. You know, the road with the one lane tunnel under the curved stone bridge? That part is still slightly terrifying. My heartbeat increases whenever we pull up to it, stop, roll down our window and honk our horn to warn anyone else that may be about to enter the tunnel from the other side. But the rest of the road makes up for it with its lakeside meandering and all of those gorgeous trees.

We caught the most fantastic estate sale on Saturday! I was so in love with the house, the yard, the pieces being divvied out, but on the other hand, thinking of the woman who spent so many of her years there and now has to be moved into a nursing home was heartbreaking. So many little memories handed out to strangers. We excitedly accept them and fill our house that will one day also be distributed in such a way. Everything is cyclical. We must each do our best to live a life that we truly enjoy. It’s so, so important.

Happy Friday,

xx.

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I love Shell’s blog so much! She marries bright color, beautiful photography, and a crisp eye for style to make her beautiful blog. A lot of blogs are alike out there, but Shell has a fun and unique way of approaching her daily life that comes through in her blog posts. Plus, she’s a member of the Turtle Love Co.‘s Vintage Style Council with me! For her it’s almost springtime in Australia, but I did my guest post on our approaching autumn. It was the best excuse I could think of to wear my newly thrifted wool skirt! That’s reason enough, right?

Have a great Thursday!

xx.

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When I see one of those little yellow slips in my post office box, I flip! My post master must think I’m rather silly. But, when this package arrived I was even more excited than usual. I knew just what it was! My friends Jessa and Judd of Pearl + Earl’s Good-Time Vintage Blog sent me a dress straight from their Etsy shop! Yesterday was the best day I’ve had in a long time, partly because I got to wear my new dress.

Ryan and I were lucky enough to have the day off together, something that doesn’t happen a whole lot anymore, and fortunately it was on a day when our new favourite coffee shop is open! So, we drove to the cutest little town in the area, grabbed some lattes, and started snapping pictures of my new vintage dress. It was such a wonderful way to spend our time!

They sure do know my taste! Doesn’t this look like something I would have picked out for myself? I paired it with one of my scout style ties, a big ol’ belt, and moccasins on this day, but can’t wait to style it for cooler months! This dress is perfect for September weather. The sun has been out, but there’s definitely a chill in the air. And, -gasp- some colour coming into the leaves! I’m so happy that I can enjoy my new dress now, but it will transition well into the winter since it’s thicker material and it’ll go so nicely with tights and boots! Transition pieces are the best when you live in New England and have to think about layering a lot.

In exchange for this gorgeous dress, I sent Jessa + Judd their own ties from my Etsy shop which they styled and blogged about the other day. Make sure to check out the post if you have a moment – they’re both so much fun! I just know you’ll be charmed by their blog and style. It’s always neat to see how other people style my pieces, and makes me feel all warm + fuzzy to see my creations find new homes.

Thanks, Jessa + Judd for sending me such a lovely dress! I’m so happy to be able to share your shop and blog with my readers, I just know they’ll all love what you have to say and show. This dress is obviously darling with it’s dramatic collar and adorable shape, but there are so many other fantastic pieces in their curated vintage shop, so head on over and pick something out for yourself!

Have a wonderful day!

xx.

P.s.The giveaway is now closed and I’ll be announcing the winner in the next couple of days – stay tuned!

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Well, that one flew by! Honestly, where did it even go? I was just writing my weekly summation for last week, wasn’t I? Honestly, I can hardly recall anything of note that happened this week besides that on Wednesday I was able to go thrifting with the other Julia and brainstormed with her some ideas for upcoming blog posts. It’s so nice to have people around me that are supportive and invested in my projects. Thanks to Julia and Ryan for being the best friends a girl could ask for. I’m so lucky to have you both.

Ryan discovered some secret paths in the woods just a short distance from our house that are amazing. Pine needles carpet the ground and the trees are so thick that it seems to be dusk when you’re beneath them although it could be noon without. My only dislike for this new area of exploration is that to get there, you must go directly through a neighbor’s driveway. Ryan asked permission of the person, and he said he didn’t mind, but still it’s a bit unnerving to feel like I’m trespassing in order to get to the woods. What would Thoreau say of that? Every day I wish more and more to have our own little piece of land to wander and roam and let grow as it will and just watch it change with the seasons as though I’m not even there.

By the way, if you ever think it’s a good idea to move into a basement apartment, think again. In our haste to get back to New Hampshire, we signed a lease here and I’m still having a really hard time with it. They say home is where the heart is and home is where you hang your hat, but for us, home is where the most random things {cowboy boots, laptop bags, pillows} start growing mold and we have to turn our guest bed mattress on its side once a week to let the damp floor beneath it dry. Lesson learned.

This is certainly not the venue to complain, but the truth is that it’s hard to live without sufficient sunlight and to feel like you’re entering a cave every time you step through your own front door. But in the toughest times, it’s important to remember that things will change for the better. I want to harness this energy that could be lost to listlessness, and use it to propel myself forward into our next stage of life. In May we’ll be able to move and we’re hoping to make it our last. By then, you may be seeing us purchase our first house {if everything goes as we hope}. As for now – the sun is shining outside, our weekend approaches, and fall comes soon enough. I hope you’re all doing quite well.

See you tomorrow!

xx.

P.s. I should add, to end this on a positive note, that I couldn’t be more thankful for the cricket songs that fill the air 24 hours a day in this location. I leave the windows open as much as possible so I can hear these little darlings. They have such a comforting sound and I am so happy they’re here.

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When I made Ryan his first bow tie, I knew I’d have to find him a tutorial.

I found one online to show him, and together we both learned from that. Now he’s gotten pretty good at it since I keep making him new ties. And even I can do it without looking, thanks to testing out each one that I put up in my Etsy shop! So we thought we’d make a video tutorial of our own! I had lots of fun working with video editing again {I haven’t done it in years!} and finding my way around iMovie 09 which I had never actually played with. I hope this helps any of you out there who have been wondering how it’s done!

Happy bow tying!

xx.

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Last night craft-fever hit me hard! While Ryan relaxed and settled down for the night I found myself getting all in a tizzy over recreating a thrifted lampshade. We bought this lamp and shade separately from Goodwill months ago, but it’s never looked exactly the way I wanted it to until now that I’ve added my own vintage fabric to it. Here’s how you can update an old lamp, too:

You’ll need a lamp {duh!}, scissors, fabric, hem tape or double sided tape, measuring tape, and a marking tool. You could also add some cute rick-rack or stitches to it depending on how much time you want to spend and how detailed you want the shade to be! I first thought I might do some stitching, but didn’t want to get holed up in my studio for too long on a night off, so I sprung for the tape.

First step: Strip the lampshade. When we bought ours it had ribbon hot glued to it from the previous owner. We took this off immediately, but the glue itself has been there ever since. Depending on your shade, you may choose also to take the fabric off entirely and have just the wire frame, but since our shade was white we knew it wouldn’t make a difference to the look at the end of the project, so we left it on.To make sure that you cut the right amount of fabric, measure the height of your lampshade as well as the diameter and write down both of your measurements. Then, add one inch to the height and one inch to the diameter so you’ll have space to fold over the edges.

Mark this new measurement on the wrong side {the side that won’t be showing when the project is finished} of your fabric, then snip, snip, snip!

Add the hem tape to the top and bottom edges of your fabric keeping in mind that you added an inch of fabric {a 1/2 inch for the top + a 1/2 inch for the bottom} for these adjustments. Folding the raw edge in will make the project look nice + neat.

Next you’ll fold both edges in a half inch and press down on the tape to stick them in place. Your fabric should now measure from top to bottom the same as the lampshade does. Almost there!

Add a strip of tape up the lampshade to hold on one of the sides of the fabric.

Add tape to the bottom and top edge of the shade, then, making sure your fabric is smooth, turn the lamp and attach as you go.

When you get to the end, remember that you added an inch in the measurement for overlap, so you can fold the fabric underas you stick it in place with the double-sided tape. Et voila!

I’d love to see how yours come out if you decide to give this project a try! It’s a simple way to spruce up your home and to dig into that gorgeous fabric stash I know you have hiding away.